Armor from 1950-1959
The Cold War heats up with the grand land campaigns of Korea eventually raising the design bar between the United States and the Soviet Union.

1 AMX-13 Started just at the end of World War II, development of the AMX-13 reached full production in 1952 with over 3,000 units built. An automatic loader negates the need for a fourth man in the turret, though manual loading is req... 1952

2 ASU-57 The ASU-57 was a Soviet-designed system meant to provide a self-propelled anti-tank gun option to airborne elements. The ASU was armed with a 57mm main gun (hence the "57" occurring in the designation) but was lightly armored... 1957

3 BRDM-1 The BRDM-1 series of amphibious scout cars first appeared in the late 1950s and would serve as the principle armored car in service with the Red Army until eventually being replaced by the equally successful BRDM-2 series. Th... 1957

4 BTR-50P The BTR-50 series of Soviet armored personnel carriers was developed in the 1950s and served for a time to good effect. The system proved to be reliable on the field and simple enough to produce in quantity therefore making i... 1950

5 FV214 Conqueror The British-produced Conqueror was designed to be fielded in conjunction with the hugely successful Centurion Main Battle Tank (still in service in many parts of the world today) in post-war Europe. The system was classified ... 1955

6 Hornet Malkara The Hornet Malkara was the product of Cold War necessity designed to combat the heavy tanks of the Soviet Union, in particular the Soviet IS and T-10 models. More specifically, the Malkara was engineered as a portable air-dro... 1955

7 M103 With the Cold War in full bloom, design of heavy tanks for the United States Army increased in an effort to mimic the success of the World War Two / Korean War-era M26 Pershing Heavy Tank (detailed elsewhere on this site). Th... 1954

8 M108 The M108 was an armored, full track-laying vehicle that provided a self-propelled carriage for a 105mm howitzer. Adequately mobile, the M108 was utilized for direct support of combat teams when employed with armored personnel... 1952

9 M41 Walker Bulldog The M41 Walker Bulldog was designed to replace the World War Two-era M24 Chaffee. Armed with a 76mm main gun, it was a very standardized tank, with driver front left and the weapons crew in the turret (loader left, gunner fro... 1951

10 M47 Patton (Patton 1) The M47 Patton tank saw a short life in frontline service, being replaced promptly by the M48 Pattons as early as 1953 (the M47s entered service in 1951. Because of their short life, they did not see any combat service in the... 1951

11 M48 Patton The M48 Patton Main Battle Tank was effectively the first tank engineering design in post-war America. The M46 and M47 Patton versions were merely developments of the World War Two M26 Pershing, which in itself, was a develop... 1952

12 M50 Ontos The impressive-looking M50 Ontos (in the Greek meaning "The Thing") was built to a United States Marine Corps tank destroyer specification. With five prototypes built, and each fitted with differing calibers of recoilless rif... 1955

13 M56 Scorpion The M56 (sometimes called the "Scorpion") was a fully tracked 90mm gun developed in the 1950s to provide airborne troops with a mobile anti-tank weapon. As such the system was used by airborne battalions and airborne infantry... 1953

14 M65 Atomic Cannon The United States Government had a problem keeping its European allies calm during the Cold War when a Russian blitzkrieg threatened with tens of thousands of tanks rolling across Europe at will. The need was for a small tac... 1952

15 Obyekt 279 (Object 279) The Russian Obyekt (translating to "Object") 279 Soviet heavy tank was developed in 1957 at the Kirov Plant in Leningrad by L. Troyanov, an engineer in charge of prototype tank design. The heavy tank's design purpose was to ... 1957

16 PT-76 The PT-76 was developed shortly after Second World War. The weapon system is designated as a "Light Amphibious Tank" featuring a crew of three and the ability to traverse varying depths of water. The PT-76 is armed with th... 1952

17 SA-2 Guideline The original SA-2 Guideline design was engineered to track down and destroy the less-maneuverable high-altitude American bombers, more precisely - the Air Force's stalwart, the B-52 Stratofortress. The capabilities of the ... 1957

18 SS-1 SCUD The SCUD missile system was the Soviet military long-range missile mainstay throughout the 70's and 80's. The system gained notoriety during the first Gulf War in 1991, where Saddam Hussein launched attacks against Israel and... 1957

19 T-10 / IS-10 (Iosif Stalin / Josef Stalin) The T-10 can be considered the pinnacle "Josef Stalin" tank design as it is the tank that superceded previous forms and became the final product of the series. It sported an all new main gun, redesigned body and turret and pu... 1953

20 T-55 The T-55 Medium Tank is probably the most internationally prolific piece of tracked armor as it can be found in dozens of military inventories across the globe. It has seen military frontline service from the invasion of Hung... 1958

21 Type 59 The NORINCO-produced Type 59 was actually based on the purchase and subsequent local licensed production of the Soviet T-54 main battle tank (just redesignated as the Type 59 in Chinese service). The system, at least external... 1959